Firms Mandating Vaccines Are Starting to Terminate Holdouts, Lawyer Says

Companies don’t want to lose workers who won’t get vaccinated, but some have been forced to start terminations, a legal expert and business leaders said.

With fierce competition for talent, firms are taking steps to encourage employees to get vaccinated and make accommodations for those with religious beliefs or medical conditions that prevent them from getting immunized, executives said during a Wednesday Newsday Live webinar hosted by Newsday and the Long Island Association, a regional business group.

But companies with more than 100 employees must implement a federal requirement to mandate vaccinations or weekly testing; and smaller companies don’t want to lose staff who are uncomfortable working near unvaccinated colleagues, said Domenique Camacho Moran, a partner at the Uniondale-based Farrell Fritz law firm.

“I have a couple of clients who have had the mandate in place for about a month, and starting last week, they started to tell people they’re just not going to be able to do this,” Moran said of job terminations.

“We have better than 80% of the workforce vaccinated in lots of workplaces. Those people don’t want to be close to those who are unvaccinated,” Moran added. “So the demand for vaccination is not just from the government, it’s not just from the employer who wants there to be a safe workplace, it’s also from the employees.”

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